Super Bowl MVP Has Higher Calling

Nick Foles, the current quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles and the MVP of Super Bowl LII, is already planning for his post-football career: he wants to be a pastor.

In an interview with Fox Sports on Thursday, Foles explained the importance of his Christian faith and his plans for the future.

"I wanted to be a pastor in a high school,” Foles explained. "It's in my heart. I took a leap of faith last year and signed up to take classes at seminary. I wanted to continue to learn and challenge my faith. It's a challenge because you are writing papers that are biblically correct. You want to impact people's hearts."

In fact, Foles said he nearly retired at the end of last season – before he agreed to join the Eagles, initially as their backup quarterback before getting the starting job mid-season after Carson Wentz was injured.

“It took a lot more faith to come back and play [this season] than it would’ve to go in the other direction,” Foles explained. “Either way would’ve been fine. Either way, I would’ve trusted in God. I would’ve done something else and glorified God in that instance."

He added: “The reason I decided to come back is I’ve loved the game of football since I was a kid, I loved playing sports, I loved being part of a team, and I knew as a person that the more growth I’ve had and the more opportunity I would have to glorify God and trust in him would be to go back and play football.”

Besides leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a thrilling victory at last night's Super Bowl, Foles is also getting his Masters degree in divinity, from an online program through Liberty University.

Foles also explained how his work with faith ministries has already helped prepare him for his future career.

“When I speak to (students), that’s such a time of young men and young women’s lives that there’s a lot of things that are thrown at them," he said. "So much temptation in this world, so much going on with social media and the internet that you want to talk to them and address it and share all the weaknesses I have because I’ve fallen many times. It’s something I want to do. I can’t play football forever. I’ve been blessed with an amazing platform, and it’s just a door God has opened, but I still have a lot of school left and a long journey.”